Find

Advertise

Admin

11,957views

2017 Trail Tourism Conference

YO! Just lettin' ya know that this event occurred in the past. So don't go planning your day around this one.

WHEN

Thu Mar 30 20179:00 AM - 5:30 PM

WHERE

Hotel PatteePerry, IA

WHO

Common Thread, City of Perry, Hotel Patte, RRVT, High Trestle Trail and more

Description

Safety/Education/Training

Distance - Destination

Bike Trail Tourism Conference set for Thursday, March 30th at Hotel Pattee in Perry, IA

The Fourth Annual Bike Trail Tourism Conference – Capturing More Trail Potential will be Thursday, March 30, 2017 at the Hotel Pattee in Perry. The focus of the day will be on (1) helping businesses on or near the trails think about strategies to reach more trail users and (2) help communities on or near the trail develop to economic development strategies that capture the growing economic potential of our trails, said Deb Bengtson, director of Adel Partners Chamber of Commerce and one of the conference organizers. The conference registration begins at 8:30 am and the program runs from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm.

“We’re so fortunate to have the Raccoon River Valley Trail and the High Trestle trails here in central Iowa, said Bengtson. Those trails are a great linkage between our communities and the larger metro area, as a great ‘quality of life’ asset and a real opportunity for our trail towns to attract more trail users out from the metro area. Our primary audience is businesses and local leaders of towns on the trail. We want to give them ideas and strategies to get more economic benefit from our trails.” We’ll also be discussing the progress to complete the final link between Woodward and Perry that will connect these two major trails.

The conference begins at 9:00 am with an opening presentation from Michael Gould, manager of business development at the Iowa Economic Development Authority. He will set the stage for the conference and discuss the larger picture of trails and tourism in Iowa and the potential of central Iowa trails to draw people from beyond central Iowa and how this can impact towns on and near the trails.

The conference will then focus on four trail-related topics;

A Trail Economic Impact Study, presented by Mike Wallace, Director of Dallas County Conservation. Key findings from a trail study conducted by students at Iowa State University.

What the ISU trail study means in the larger context of economic development for individual trail businesses and for communities in the region, presented by Michael Gould, manager of business development at the Iowa Economic Development Authority.

Targeted Marketing on a Small Business Budget; Christina Moffatt and Kristine Reeves of the Greater Des Moines Partnership will discuss how small businesses on and near the trail can target market their products and services to trail users.

Marketing the Des Moines area; Erin Haines and Addison Bratvold of the Greater DM Convention and Visitors Bureau will discuss how the CVB markets the area to visitors and discuss how individual businesses and trail communities could utilizes some of the same strategies in marketing to trail users and trail visitors.

“Trail counts are going up every year, and when we get the connection between Woodard (High Trestle Trail) and Perry (Raccoon River Valley Trail, linking these two great trails, I think the numbers will soar, said Jay Hartz of Hotel Pattee. We’re pleased to host the 2017 bike trail tourism conference. It can help all businesses on the trail if we can get more trail users out of the metro area, and get more of them into our local businesses, said Hartz, owner and general manager of the Hotel Pattee. “One of our strategies to grow our business is to focus on bike trail users and do all we can do to give them a great experience when they eat a meal here or stay overnight with us. We continue to see a steady increase in trail users coming to the hotel.”

10:45 am Break

12:00 noon Lunch

1:15 pm Panel 3; Target Marketing on a Small Business Budget, presented by Christina Moffatt and Kristine Reeves of the Greater Des Moines Partnership

2:00 pm Break

2:15 pm Panel 4; Marketing the DM area and how you can use the same concepts to market your business and your community to trail users, presented by Erin Haines and Addison Bratvold of the Greater DM Convention and Visitors Bureau

3:20 pm Wrap up and evaluation

3:30 pm Adjourn

SPONSORS

Conference sponsors are Common Thread, a regional consortium of towns on the Raccoon River Valley Trail and the High Trestle Trail, the City of Perry, and the Center for Towncraft in Perry, a collaboration between Iowa State University Extension & Outreach and the City of Perry, and Bolton & Menk Inc.

Common THREAD

The mission of the Common THREAD Consortium of Communities is the development of communities on or near the High Trestle and Raccoon River Valley Trail and Park systems, through the identification and
enhancement of opportunities for Tourism, Health, Recreation, Education, Arts, and Development.

The
vision of the Common THREAD Consortium is economically thriving
communities of healthy residents enjoying a high quality of life on or
near the High Trestle and Raccoon River Valley Trail and Park systems,
made possible through cooperative planning, the enhancement and
utilization of area assets, and leveraging opportunities in the greater
metropolitan area.

Route

n/a, but you can certainly ride here!

Venue

Hotel Pattee

Links

Registration

Conference registration is $25 per person which includes lunch and all conference materials. PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED by March 24, 2017. Information and registration is online atHERE.You can also register by sending your name and address, along with a check to:City of Perry, Attn: Bike Conf., PO Box 545, Perry, IA 50220.Please make checks payable to: City of Perry